Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel registered stylish half-centuries as the Rajasthan Royals continued their victory march in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) with a commanding seven-wicket win against the Lucknow Super Giants on April 27 (Saturday). The Royals registered their eighth win of the competition in eight matches played and consolidated their place at the top of the points table. Meanwhile, the Super Giants lost their fourth match of the season in nine contests played.
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal give flying start to RR
In pursuit of the 197-run target, RR got off to a flying start with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler combining for a 60-run partnership at the top. The duo capitalised on the field restrictions and played their shots to lay a perfect platform for the chase. Buttler departed after scoring 34 runs off 18 balls and Jaiswal followed his partner soon after scoring 24 runs off 18 balls.
Riyan Parag couldn't make much of an impact as he was dismissed by Amit Mishra for 14 runs off 11 balls.
Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel mix caution with aggression
Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel took their time initially to assess the condition but the duo soon opened their arms and pressed on the accelerator. Jurel, in particular, was very impressive as he played some stylish shots during his attractive knock.
Samson continued to anchor the innings by rotating the strike and finding the boundary whenever he wanted to. Jurel was the aggressor in the partnership with Samson as both players complemented each other brilliantly. Jurel also rode his luck as he was dropped twice in the same over by Yash Thakur when he was batting on 31 and 32.
The duo stitched a match-winning alliance of 121 runs and took the team to a comfortable seven-wicket win with an over to spare.
Samson remained unbeaten on 71 runs off 33 balls which he scored with the help of seven fours and four sixes. Jurel remained unbeaten on 52 runs off 34 balls which he scored with the help of five fours and two sixes.
KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda register half-centuries
After being asked to bat first, KL Rahul led LSG's charge with a solid 76-run knock and Deepak Hooda added 50 runs which propelled the team's score to 196/5 in 20 overs. Their partnership of 115 runs off 62 balls for the third wicket provided a strong base after some initial setbacks. Despite their efforts, subsequent batters couldn't leverage this foundation to boost the team's score further.
Rahul’s knock included eight fours and two sixes, marking his fourth half-century of the season. Hooda, overcoming his previous low scores, notched up his first significant innings of this IPL season.
The match began with Trent Boult recovering quickly from being hit for consecutive fours by Quinton de Kock, as he struck back by bowling De Kock with the third delivery.
Sandeep Sharma (2/31) impressed by dismissing Marcus Stoinis, who was fresh off a century against Chennai Super Kings, with a delivery that cut back sharply to hit the middle stump, sending Stoinis back for a four-ball duck.
Ravichandran Ashwin managed to slow LSG's pace, claiming only his second wicket of the season by getting Hooda caught at wide long-on by Rovman Powell.
The peculiar dimensions of Ekana's boundary played a role when Sandeep caught Nicholas Pooran (11) off-guard with a short ball that led to a catch for Boult at deep backward square leg.
Rahul's innings ended when Avesh Khan delivered a short and wide ball, prompting an attempt to clear the boundary that fell short and led to another catch by Boult, concluding the Indian skipper's resilient innings.
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